TL1 Agent

1. What is TL1?
2. Why TL1 is important in telecommunication network management?
3. How many types of operation application messages are there in TL1 agent?
4. What is Input Command Message?
5. What is Output Response Message?
6. What is Autonomous Message?
7. How do I develop and use TL1 technology?
8. Is it necessary to have a manager application to manage TL1 device?
9. Where can I get TL1 products for building TL1 agent and EMS?

1.What is TL1?

Transaction Language 1 (TL1) is an ASCII or man-machine management protocol used for managing Telecommunication networks.

TL1 facilitates communication between a managed device (a device with TL1 agent) and a TL1 manager. The TL1 agent on the managed device provides access to data stored on the managed device. The TL1 manager uses this access to monitor and control the managed device. 

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2.Why TL1 is important in telecommunications network management?

RBOCs (Regional Bell Operating Companies) account for two-thirds (US$ 20 billion) of the total US telecom market. All of them use Telcordia's OSS software suite. OEM vendors who wants to sell their equipment to the RBOCs have to support TL1 interface in their telecom equipment and obtain an OSMINE-compliant certificate for their device/EMS from Telcordia. (This is a strict regulation by RBOCs). So OEM vendors who support TL1 interface in their equipment have greater marketability and scalability in North America telecommunications market. 

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3.How many types of operation application messages are there in TL1 agent?

TL1 agent comprises four types of operation application messages, which are as follows:

Input command message

Acknowledgment

Output response message

Autonomous message

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4.What is Input Command Message?

An input command message is a message  from an OS or other source to a Network Element (NE). The message requests the NE to perform some operations-related action.

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5.What is Output Response Message?

An output response message is a detailed reply (or set of replies) to an input command message. It contains the data that needs to be returned to the OS/user and the information indicating whether the command was executed successfully.

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6.What is Autonomous Message?

An Autonomous message is sent from the NE to the appropriate OS without having an explicit input message associated with it. Typical scenarios where autonomous messages are used include the following:

Reporting of alarmed or non-alarmed trouble events.

Reporting of scheduled diagnostic tests in the NE.

Reporting of Performance Monitoring data.

Reporting of a change in the NE's database.

Periodic reporting of selected NE conditions.

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7.How do I develop and use TL1 technology?

Deploying and using TL1 technology for management involves the following steps:

• Decide what aspects of your products you want to manage via TL1
• Select the standard TL1 messages to implement
• Create proprietary TL1 Messages for your device
• Select a TL1 Toolkit vendor
• Implement the instrumented TL1 agent in your devices
• Select a TL1 management API library
• Write TL1 applications to manage your device

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8.Is it necessary to have a manager application to manage TL1 device?

No. One of the major advantages of TL1 over other management protocol is, TL1 is man-machine and machine-machine language. So TL1 device can be managed from Command Terminal Interface (CTI) as well as from OSS (Operation Supporting System).

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9. Where I can get TL1 products for building TL1 agent and EMS?

WebNMS is a leading vendor of network management products. It has products for building TL1 agent and EMS.

Visit the following URL to get more information on WebNMS TL1 products.

http://www.webnms.com/javaagent/java_tl1_agent_ds.html

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